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The Philippines, the world’s biggest supplier of merchant sailors,
Tuesday called on fellow APEC members to improve the protection of
ships against pirate attacks off Somalia.
Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza told
APEC transportation ministers that Filipinos and Philippine-flagged
vessels are “in the lowest category in terms of priority in
[naval] escorts in Somalia.”
“Secretary Mendoza appealed to the ministers
of the different APEC economies to give assistance,”
Transportation Department spokesman Elena Bautista told reporters on
the sidelines of the ministers’ two-day meeting.
“We are appealing for help for developing
economies and their seafarers, particularly from the Philippines,
who are manning their ships.”
Slow-moving oil
tankers, which carry mostly Filipino crews, should be given
“special protection” by Navy forces already in Somalia, Bautista
said.
She said APEC members acknowledged that the
piracy problem needed to be addressed and that efforts against it be
stepped up.
APEC, or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
forum, which groups 21 economies across the region, held its annual
meeting of transportation ministers in Manila on Monday and Tuesday.
The Philippines used the occasion to
“reiterate [our call for] all naval forces that are now in the
coalition to protect the Somali waters,” Bautista said.
Ship repels new attack
Bautista said a Chinese navy frigate escorting
the Philippine-flagged chemical tanker MV Stolt Strength, which was
released by pirates last week, had recently repelled a second hijack
attempt.
The vessel, with its 23-man Filipino crew, was
freed last week after five months in captivity. But it ran low on
fuel and supplies shortly after departing and was stranded in waters
east of Somalia.
The Chinese frigate Huangshan came to its aid,
providing fuel, food, water and medicine until it reached a safe
port of call in Yemen, she said.
“Pirates yesterday tried to reach Stolt
Strength, but the Chinese made a decisive action and deployed
choppers that eventually drove the pirates away,” Bautista said.
The Philippines supplies the world’s maritime
industry with more than 350,000 sailors, who serve on oil tankers,
luxury liners and passenger vessels.
Over 80 Filipinos aboard several ships are still
held by Somali pirates.
US Navy snipers earlier this month shot dead
three pirates and captured one in a daring rescue of an American
captain held hostage by the gunmen.
-- AFP
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